Best of Boston

2018 Best
Cocktail Bar

Blossom Bar

Turns out, dan dan noodles and Latin libations are a cross-cultural match made in heaven. After putting Woburn on the map as a cocktail destination with his nationally lauded Baldwin bars, Ran Duan recently opened his third concept, in Brookline. And just as expected, the minimalist bar he installed in his parents’ Sichuan restaurant offers drinks that are as adventurous as they are thirst-quenching: Tropical flavors, unexpected textures, and sugar-cane-based spirits drive the menu, with mascarpone cheese adding weight to the Bocadillo Sour, the anise-y Colombian spirit aguardiente mingling with papaya in the Angie Valencia, and a grasshopper rim imparting an element of surprise to the avocado-tequila libation Broken Spanish.